So you've done a heap of research
into business blogging and you've published some awesome content that you
really think will elevate your brand and user experience,
you've linked a new blog post to your audience on Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter, and you've even included in the link
in the newsletter that you send your customers ... But your metrics suck.
Your blog post isn't bringing in anywhere near the number of people you expected.
Your search engine rankings are unmoving.
You're running out of ideas
and the algorithm is seemingly forever against you.
But before you pack it in, it's time you learnt about blog
optimisation and how it can take your tiny business blog from ignored to adored.
Hey, guys, it's Liv here
from Neighbourhood, but we help brands find sell and keep their people.
Let's start at the very beginning.
What is blog optimisation?
Blog optimisation is really just a less
technical way of talking about search engine optimisation or SEO.
Just like creating awesome content and knowing where to share it,
blog optimisation is a major part of your blog marketing strategy and needs to be
something that you plan for from the very beginning.
Optimising your blog posts means using
the tools you have available to make it as user friendly and search engine friendly
as possible. Saying that, if you've already worked to make your blog user friendly,
then chances are that its SEO quality is already pretty decent.
After all, Google loves what users love. Don't worry, though,
we're not saying that if you go into blogging without understanding SEO
practises, you're going to fall flat on your face.
Optimisation is vital, sure,
but it's thankfully something you can fix and improve on at the time.
It's super important to remember the blog optimisation isn't a one time thing.
Yep, just like that Houseplant you impulse bought,
it's an ongoing commitment that will only
thrive if you remember to give it enough attention.
Search engine optimisation is a powerful part of any blogging strategy because it's
not just a way to get more eyeballs on your business or the blog content itself.
It's a hugely important marketing tool
and it can even be a way to generate additional revenue from your blog post.
Now let's look at two huge reasons
SEO is the be all and end all.
First off, business marketing.
If you don't have customers, you don't have a business.
And while you might have grown your
customer base so far through social media, word of mouth, or you mate handing out
flyers at your local supermarket, it's not always going to be enough.
SEO helps customers to find your business.
Not only that, but a well-structured blogging strategy can even guide new
customers through the buyer's journey without them even realising it.
With research showing that 68 percent
of online activity starts with a search engine, businesses like yours need blog
optimisation to get products or services in front of that target audience.
Yeah for sure.
You could chuck a ton of money into digital advertising,
and that's certainly an easy way to get your content in front of people.
However, the difference between that and SEO is that advertising typically
focuses on the product. SEO and content marketing help customers find solutions.
It's a subtle difference, but one that has huge implications for your marketing.
Next up, it provides you additional revenue.
The amazing thing about driving more traffic to your blog post is that you can
use this traffic as an extra revenue stream for your business.
And there's a ton of different options depending on what your business is.
So next up, why does better SEO mean more dollars in your pocket, you ask?
Well, that means that you'll be driving more traffic to your website.
And as you already know,
other businesses are willing to spend money to distribute their content,
with some being more than ready to pay top dollar for the right audience.
So if you have that audience and an increasing number of those people
visiting your website, you can make a little extra cash
from every extra effort. If you're enjoying this video,
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With that in mind, let's now look at how
to optimise your blog post for search rankings.
First up, you've probably already heard how important keyword research is to your
blogging strategy, but it's really important to understand
the different benefits that long tail and short tail keywords bring. Short tail
keywords, a typically three or fewer words long and they're super general.
This makes them great for pillar posts or content focussing on a general topic like
vegan food benefits or conservation charities.
LongTail keywords in comparison are over three words long and a lot more specific.
The beauty of this is that you can expand
on the topic with variations of your short tail keywords,
or you can choose phrases or questions that your customers are searching for.
So you could go with something like
conservation charities in Adelaide or the benefits of tofu in a vegan diet.
Of course, you'll only know this
information if you spend a good enough amount of time on keyword research.
We recommend using something like Answer
the Public as they'll recommend a good balance of short and long tail keywords.
Otherwise, Google's auto-completing
function is a surprisingly helpful tool for this next step.
Do you remember what we said earlier about
how Google loves the same things people do?
Yep, mobile friendly design is one of those things. Now that we've all got smartphones,
it's no surprise that an increasing number
of searches and purchases are being made on mobile devices.
That's why in twenty fifteen,
a major Google update made sure that mobile friendly websites were shown
first in the rankings for users on mobile devices.
So with it now being an essential ranking
factor, you're going to want to make sure that your website uses responsive design,
which is where it scales page elements based on the browser size.
We know it sounds a bit complicated,
but thankfully quite a few website builders use a standard.
So if you're running your article through something like WordPress or HubSpot,
chances are you've already got a mobile friendly website.
Next, a huge thing that a lot of people don't consider with business blogs is
that there's a lot more to SEO than just using keywords in your content.
Sure, it's super important, but there's just as much going on behind
the scenes as there is on your content editor.
These parts of your content are often
forgotten about, but vital for blog optimisation and improving your
SEO strategy. These are things like
the page URL, meta description, image alt text, image file size,
anchor context or the text you embed a link on, content
layout and length, page loading speed and internal and external links.
When you're optimising your blog post,
you need to make sure that you're using everything at your disposal.
After all, the literal definition
of optimisation is making the most effective use of a resource,
which you can't do if all you're doing is writing content and hoping the SEO gods will
shine in your favour without doing anything to appease them.
Next up, links are the lifeblood
of the Internet, which is why they're so important to blog optimisation.
But not every link is created equal.
For example, you could have outbound links
which either point to your website for an external one or inbound links
which are hosted on other websites that point back to your on.
All of them serve different purposes for SEO too.
So now let's delve a little more into outbound links.
If you imagine your website as a theme park, outbound links are like a monorail
that takes visitors from one area of the park to another,
or signposts that help visitors find the nearest food court or picnic area.
This helps to keep visitors on your website for as long as possible and also
gives them a better experience while they're there.
More pages being indexed means that you've
got a greater chance of ranking well for your chosen keywords.
So consistently linking to other pages
on your website is great for blog optimisation.
Now let's talk inbound links.
This is arguably the most important part
of your blogging strategy that you don't have much control over.
Search engine crawlers treat links like
a vote of confidence in a particular website.
And if a website ranks particularly well
their links carry more of a vote than small websites, it's not particularly
Democratic, but it's the best thing that search engines have to judge
authority with an algorithm so we don't ask too many questions.
The goal is to build links
on authoritative, popular and trustworthy sites while avoiding links from spammy
or low authority ones. To build quality back links,
we recommend guest posting for trusted publications in your industry.
Sure, it might not be paid, but it'll help your website rank and it'll
gain you the respect of that publications audience.
You could also contribute to collaborative
pieces where you give your opinion to a publication in return for a link.
And that's it.
So if you found this video helpful, feel free to share it with someone
that you know that needs a hand with blog optimisation.
You could also subscribe to our blog where
you find a bunch more tools, tips and templates to Help you Find Sell &
Keep your people, just like Neighbourhood does.
So that's it for me. Happy marketing.